GXEX1406
Thinking and Communication Skills
Non-Verbal
Communication
Non-Verbal Communication
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Objectives:
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Introduce types of non-verbal communication
Show the importance of non-verbal
communication to support a verbal
communication
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Non-Verbal Communication
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Non-verbal communication makes no use of the
words, sentences, grammar and other structures
that we associate with spoken and written language.
Non-verbal communication includes facial
expressions, eye contact, tone of voice, body
posture and motions, and positioning within groups.
Verbal communication is organized by language;
non-verbal communication is not.
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Non-Verbal Communication
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Types of non-verbal communication:
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Proxemics
Orientation
Eye contact or gaze
Facial expression
Gesture, especially use of hands and arms
Dress
Posture
Paralanguage
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Non-Verbal Communication
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Other forms of non-verbal behaviour:
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Changes in our skin pigment such as blushing when we
are embarrassed
 How much control do we have over the non-verbal signals
we transmit?
Smell
 Animal used smell to send out signals that both attract and
repel
 Men/women used synthetic odours that will attract
opposite sex
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1. Proxemics
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The study of how we handle the space around us,
especially in relation to other people
Human beings are territorial!
We create for ourselves spaces that belong to us
and to which we try carefully to control access
Example:
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Our homes
Our spaces at work or school
Issue: how space is occupied is about how territory
reflects the power relations within groups of people.
The more powerful a person the larger and more
impressive the space they will occupy
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Proxemics - continue
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Another important type of space; the space we carry with us
Individual invisible space that we protect from outside intrusion
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Determined by the situation and by the relationship we have, or might
like to have, with the person or people who are near to us
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Invisible bubble around us
In crowded place such as a bus or train
Cultural/religious differences in our attitudes to the proximity, or
nearness, of other people
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“Don’t touch” – touching things, other people, or even our own bodies, is
socially undesirable.
Some cultures physical contact with relative strangers is openly encouraged
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Proxemics - activities
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Consider how space are occupied within the
classroom.
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How is the teacher’s space marked out?
How are other spaces occupied?
Where would a newcomer or visitor to the class sit?
What do you feel if you are in:
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A crowded bus
A stadium
A lonely beach
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2. Orientation
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Closely linked to the concept of proxemics
The way in which people place themselves relative
to one another
When someone comes sits next to you, it is
generally seen as a much friendlier (closeness)
orientation than someone who sits directly opposite
(potentially confrontational) to you.
Activities
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Do we trust people more if they sit in certain positions in relation to us
Why do we feel uncomfortable when people stand behind us?
Describe how a detective ask a suspect of murder case.
During interview, why interviewer sit apart from interviewee.
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3. Eye Contact
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Important way in which we communicate our feelings towards
other people
Initial eye contact to assess a stranger
Staring – identified as threatening form or behaviour
If we staring at someone, their behaviour will change, often
becoming either defensive or at the other extreme aggressive
towards you
Deeply suspicious of people who ‘cannot look us in the eye’; they
are seen as shifty or people with something to hide
Gazing – look steadily; men gaze at women, sometimes in
intimidating way
Eye contact – can be an index of the closeness of a relationship
that people share
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Eye Contact - continue
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A popular belief, “we can detect the truth in people’s
eyes”. Although people may hide the truth with
words, their true feelings will be revealed in their
eyes
However eye contact has some degree of ambiguity
about its meaning (has the opposite meaning)
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4. Facial Expression
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We face other people when we talk
Facial expression is bound to be an important
indicator to other people of our attitudes, state of
mind and relationships to them
Human face has a complex arrangement of muscles
that allows us to produce a whole range of different
expressions, most of which are an index of our
feelings (happy, sad, pain, etc.)
Smiling – important facial gesture that indicate that
we pleased to see other people
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Facial Expression - continue
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Smile vs Frown
Smile in forced way
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Say “cheese” when a photograph is taken
A smiling television presenter
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Facial Expression - Activities
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5. Gesture (Hands and arms)
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Gestures, e.g: handshake
Changing their meanings over a period of
time
How to tell someone to be quiet in a
library?
We use gesture when our voice engaged,
e.g: talking on the telephone, we used
gesture to tell another person to come and
sit down
Many of the gestures are automatic. When
we speaking on the telephone, we often
make hand gestures
Gestures that we make for pushing people
away vs. drawing them towards us.
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Gesture - Activities
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In sport hand gestures are often used as a code
for relaying information without opposing team
being able to decipher it. Financial market and
race tracks, employ extensive use of hand
gestures for conveying information.
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Why?
Watch a politician or other person addressing a
public meeting either on television or, by
attending yourself. Make a list of a different
types of gesture they use.
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How does each of these gestures relate to the
message being spoken?
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How do you, the audience, respond to
different hand gestures?
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Any there any gestures that make you more
inclined to accept the verbal message?
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6. Dress
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Dress – we combine items of clothing and the
appropriateness of certain types of styles of dress to
specific situation.
Funeral – people wear black or dark coloured
clothes as a symbol or mourning ~ avoid colour
clashes.
The clothes we wear make a statement about
ourselves ~ interpretation by other people.
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Dress - continue
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Uniform – used to signify the role or function that a person
performs; e.g: policemen, army, school children, etc.
 Also signifiers of the rank and status of the person who wears
them.
 Have impact on the behaviour of both the wearer and those with
whom they are in contact.
 Provide sense of belonging- to show our allegiance to a group
(subcultures such as hippies, rappers, punks, etc. or support our
football team or army etc.)
 Example of formal dress – business suit always dark shades?
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Dress - continue
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Time dependent dress code
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Office - formal
Relaxing or socialising – casual
Initial judgments about people because of
their clothes
Dress – one aspect of the physical
appearance
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Hairstyle, jewellery, make-up, body adornment
and body modification
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Open for interpretation by other people
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Dress - Activities
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How do you decide what to wear?
Do you always have a choice?
Are there clothes that you hate wearing?
Do the clothes you wear make a statement about
yourself?
What is your attitude to school uniform?
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7. Posture
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The way in which we position our bodies
Early age:
 “sit up straight”, “shoulder back” – instruction heard at home or
school
Upright posture – people who have confident (police, army)
Posture is another sign of the status and role within society
(army, police)
Use posture as one means of indicating to another person our
feelings of friendship or hostility
 “hands on hips” – confrontational and hostile
Group – imitating the postures of the people they are with
(mirroring, postural congruence)
 Cross legs, fold their arms
 Reinforce group identities
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Posture - Activities
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Make a list of postures that might be
considered hostile. Make a list of postures
that might be considered friendly.
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8. Paralanguage
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Those utterances that we make when we are speaking
 When we speak, we make noise that aren’t words (‘um’ or ‘ah’),
we raise and lower voices, we pause, we stress some words
 Important aspect of the message when we are communicating
 E.g: “The house is on fire” ~statement
“The house is on fire!” ~ stressed
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Voice intonation (pitch)- indicator of intention
Flow of voice
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Paralanguage - Activities
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Accent and dialect are important aspects of paralanguage as
they determine the way we sound to other people. Different
regional accents are spoken with unique intonations and
rhythms. Many of these accents carry with them connotations of
the attitudes behinds the voice, many of which are obviously
quite stereotypical.
Consider following regional accents:
Johor/Kelantan/N.Sembilan/Penang
Do you have accent?
How this make you react to these accents?
Are the assumptions you might make correct about attitude and
accents or dialect?
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The Link
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Most of time we use verbal & non-verbal
simultaneously
Issue: Which is more important (Verbal vs. Non
Verbal)
One of the functions of NVC – as a regulator (a
mechanism that helps us to control the flow of
conversation)
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Indications cues such as eye contact, facial expression
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Group Activities
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Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
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